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Original poster

What book was so good you couldn't out it down you burned the dinner and let the kids run wild and chaos reign about you?

92 replies

TheMoonOnAStick · 03/08/2010 11:53

I want something that good to read on holiday you see!

I don't care much for chick lit and can't bear Freya North, but other than that don't much mind. Quite like historical but doesn't have to be.

The last books I felt that gripped by were the Shardlake series, so something absorbing and of doorstop dimensions on that level without being too impenetrable would be good

OP posts:
garlicoliveoil · 09/08/2010 12:44

flowers in the attic

i couldnt put it down once i had started, heartbreaking stuff

LouMacca · 06/08/2010 12:35

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

It has spoilt all other books for me so far.

BelligerentGhoul · 06/08/2010 12:35

Am I the only person in the world who thought that 'Fingersmith' was rubbish?

tattycoram · 06/08/2010 11:56

I read Wolf Hall on my last holiday and couldnt put it down. I think you do need a good chunk of time for it, it wouldn't lend itself to dribs and drabs reading

Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins are good page turners. I second Fingersmith too if you haven't read it, it's brilliant

Noellefielding · 06/08/2010 11:48

oh Wolf Hall me too! Loved it!
Can't wait for sequel!
I know what happens but who cares?
Grin

superdragonmama · 06/08/2010 01:48

pd james dalgleish thrillers
the women's room - marilyn french
anything by jackie kay - prose but really its poetry
margaret forster
irving walsh - bit shocking but compelling
war and peace, tolstoy - though end up neglecting dc's for far too long, it's a massive long novel!
half of a yellow sun - amazing
kazuo ishiguro

FallingWithStyle · 06/08/2010 01:11

nickschick - no, ...Kevin was Lionel Shriver.

FallingWithStyle · 06/08/2010 01:11

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

Sooooooooo good! Honestly, I insist you read it

About Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII. Really vivid, brilliantly written.

nickschick · 06/08/2010 00:44

Did Jodi write 'we need to talk about Kevin'??

nickschick · 06/08/2010 00:37

The little house by Phillipa Gregory (ive read that at least 10 times)

Several of Jodi Picoults books -19 minutes was my absolute fave.

Noellefielding · 06/08/2010 00:35

To Kill a Mockingbird... a perfect book

The Woman In White.... a near perfect book

David Copperfield... another perfect book

Great Expectations - perfect

Fingersmith - great read, clever clever clever

LittlePushka · 06/08/2010 00:31

Fingersmith,...brilliantly written and a point in it which blows your mins so much you have to go back and re-read the page you have just read, as you cannot quite believe that what happened has happened.
If you have read it you know exactly the bit I mean!

Silas Marner by George Eliot is beautifuly and brilliantly written, its a great story and it is quite short.

Lynli · 06/08/2010 00:06

Henry James Turn of the screw.

BelligerentGhoul · 05/08/2010 23:47

Yes to The Historian, Half Of A Yellow Sun, The Moonstone and Dracula.

The American Boy by Andrew Taylor.

Try the 'Mistress Of the Art Of Death' books too - not as good as Shardlake but not bad.

Oh and Frank Tallis' Vienna ones - the first one is the best and they are getting progressively formulaic but better than a lot of the rubbish out there.

Conan Doyle?

This Thing Of Darkness - I can't remember the writer but it is absolutely brilliant. It's based on Darwin's early voyage to Tierra del Fuego and is really meticulously researched but v human and readable too.

MollieO · 05/08/2010 20:37

I agree with Memoirs of a Geisha - I read that under my desk at work!!

Anything by Robert Harris is a good holiday read. Really enjoyed Archangel and Fatherland. Have just read Ghost which was good to.

Time Traveller's Wife made me want to hit people - probably one of the most irritating books I have ever read.

Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Anything by Christina Lamb - factual rather than fiction but very well written - Sewing Circle of Herat and The Africa House.

nitsparty · 05/08/2010 20:11

sorry-we need to talk about kevin is Lionel Shriver- I think I was trying to add my sister's keeper which is by picoult

nitsparty · 05/08/2010 20:09

the night watch-Sarah Waters
we need to talk about Kevin-jodi picoult
I'm a big fan of audiobooks-easier to multitask

Original poster
TheMoonOnAStick · 05/08/2010 19:41

I can't get over the response to my thread. Again thanks everyone! I really will be giving this thread a good trawl in conjuction with Amazon.

Meglet no worries - I put this in fiction but afterwards did hope I'd get non-fiction suggestions too! Yours sounds great - I just looked it up on Amazon. Although not especially a fan, I have heard of their antics and would happily give it a read

OP posts:
overmydeadbody · 05/08/2010 18:28

Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing did it for me.

Meglet · 05/08/2010 18:28

ooops, didn't realise I was on fiction thread!

Meglet · 05/08/2010 18:26

The Dirt - Motley Crue

Sorry for lowering the tone!

LOOBYLOU2 · 05/08/2010 18:25

If you like the Shardlake books check out The Medieval Murderers series - CJ Sansom is one of the authors
I started reading The Help on Friday on the flight home from hols (took 3 books and managed to read them all!!!) and finished it Sunday night.
It made me laugh and it made me cry, it was just fab.

zazen · 04/08/2010 16:27

I second The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, a bit of an epic, but wonderfully written.
The Poisonwood Bible by her is also worth a read if you haven't already.

elkiedee · 04/08/2010 16:09

I also liked The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.

Sorry that none of these are imaginative but I did love them all.

Another Richard & Judy choice from a few years ago, historical, Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor.

elkiedee · 04/08/2010 16:08

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

I also thought Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant was excellent, more so than I would expect of a novel set in the confines of a 16th century Italian convent.

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